The shape: Learn, Solve, Build
| Track | Sessions | Goal | Needs software? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Learn | 3 learning touchpoints | Use existing DSSC workshops; add local safety, privacy, and source-checking practice | No |
| Solve | 2 | Turn real stuck problems into briefs with an authority, evidence, and a next move. Includes issues surfaced by Kansas City Documenters | No (sticky notes, a wall, public data websites) |
| Build | 1-2 | Co-design one small, safe tool from a real brief | Sometimes. Paper prototypes first. |
The order matters. Learn builds trust and shared language. Solve surfaces real needs. Build only happens once a need is real.
Where it runs and what it builds on
- Host: KC Digital Drive’s Digital Services & Support Center at LAMP, 1801 Linwood Blvd, Kansas City, MO 64109. A library may be a second venue.
- Curriculum: build Learn around DSSC’s existing digital-skills workshops. Use the self-paced lesson as a supplement. Evaluate outside curricula and reuse terms before adoption.
- Meetings: Kansas City Documenters notes are the record of public meetings. Solve clinics are where residents act on them.
- Pay: participants get $30 per session; peer helpers $20/hour. See Budget and Hardware.
The ladder
The goal is not "one more intro to AI class." It is a ladder people can climb:
- Safe AI User. Knows what AI is, spots hallucinations and scams, protects private information. (manual)
- Local Problem Framer. Can turn a frustration into a Problem Brief: who has authority, what evidence exists, what the smallest next move is. (manual)
- Tool Co-Designer. Can help specify and test a small tool with strict safety limits. (manual)
- Peer Facilitator. Runs sessions for other neighbors. This is how the program outlives any one organization.
Track people's progress only by what they choose to share (for example, "would you like to help facilitate next time?"). Do not grade or score participants.
Who it is for
Design for the resident most likely to be acted on by automated systems, not the one most excited about AI. In practice: seniors, renters, people navigating benefits or city services, small business owners, and neighborhood volunteers. If the room is full of tech enthusiasts, recruit differently.
Format guidance
- Length: 90 minutes. 60 is too short for hands-on work; 2 hours loses people.
- Size: 12-25. Smaller for Solve clinics.
- Timing: Offer evenings and one weekend slot. Ask the first cohort what works.
- Food: Yes. It matters more than the slides.
- Access: Step-free room, large print handouts, captioned videos, interpreters where the neighborhood needs them. Ask at registration.
- Devices: Bring a few loaner tablets or laptops. Many participants will use their phones; design exercises that work on a phone.
- Tone: Kitchen table, not conference room. No jargon. See the facilitation rules in the Workshop Playbook.
What people take home
Every session ends with something physical or useful:
- Learn 1: a privacy checklist and a family "safe word" card
- Learn 2: a "check the machine" card (the Triple-Check Rule)
- Learn 3: a map of public data sources for their own block
- Solve: a one-page Problem Brief with a next step and a name next to it
- Build: a tested paper prototype or a working small tool with a named human reviewer
After the first 90 days
Options, in order of effort:
- Repeat the Learn/Solve cycle with a new cohort, with paid graduates co-facilitating.
- Standing clinic: a monthly Solve night at LAMP with a public problem log.
- Build one tool that passed the rubric (see Building a Tool).
- Anything bigger (a data layer, governance tools, local hardware) only if residents ask for it. See Later, if residents want it.